Free State women's cricket team
South African women's cricket team
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The Free State women's cricket team, also known as Recon Tactical Free State and previously known as Orange Free State women's cricket team, is the women's representative cricket team for the South African province of Free State. They compete in the CSA Women's One-Day Cup and the CSA Women's T20 Challenge.[1]
| Personnel | |
|---|---|
| Captain | Zintle Kula |
| Coach | Ruan Dercksen |
| Team information | |
| Founded | UnknownFirst recorded match: 1996 |
| Home ground | Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein |
| History | |
| ODC wins | 0 |
| T20 wins | 0 |
| Official website | Knights Cricket |
History
The side first played as Orange Free State in the 1952–53 season of the Simon Trophy, losing in the final of the competition.[2] As Free State, they first appeared in the 1996–97 season of the Women's Inter-Provincial Tournament, although the full results for the tournament are unrecorded.[3] They have competed in every season of the tournament since.[1] They reached the quarter-finals of the competition in 2004–05, as well as finishing 4th in both 2007–08 and 2018–19.[4][5][6]
They have also competed in the CSA Women's Provincial T20 Competition since its inception in 2012–13, including finishing 4th in the first competition.[7] They have also finished third in the Top 6 league of the competition twice, in 2016–17 and 2019–20.[8][9]
In the 2022–23 season, Free State topped Division 2 Pool A in the Women's Provincial Programme before defeating Northern Cape in the subsequent play-off to gain promotion.[10] In August 2023, it was announced that a new professional domestic system would be implemented for women's cricket in South Africa. Therefore, as one of the six teams in the top division of the two domestic competitions, Free State would be allowed eleven professional players from the 2023–24 season onwards.[11][12]
Players
Current squad
Based on appearances in the 2023–24 season. Players in bold have international caps.[13]
| Name | Nationality | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Zintle Kula |  South Africa | Club captain |
| Elandri Janse van Rensburg | South Africa | |
| Pretty Molefe | South Africa | |
| Mampe Ntsane | South Africa | |
| Yolandi Potgieter | South Africa | |
| Verunissa Reddy | South Africa | |
| Miane Smit | South Africa | |
| Anica Swart | South Africa | |
| Mignon van der Merwe | South Africa | |
| Christen van Wyk | South Africa | |
| Evodia Yekile | South Africa | |
| Yamkela Zangqa | South Africa |
Notable players
Players who have played for Free State and played internationally are listed below, in order of first international appearance (given in brackets):[14]
Cindy Eksteen (1997)- Leslie Korkie (1997)
- Cri-Zelda Brits (2002)
- Susan Benade (2005)
- Annelie Minny (2007)
- Masabata Klaas (2010)
- Yolandi Potgieter (2013)
- Anneke Bosch (2016)
- Annerie Dercksen (2023)
Michelle Botha (2025)- Miane Smit (2025)
Honours
- CSA Women's One-Day Cup:
- Winners (0):
- Best finish: 4th (2007–08 & 2018–19)
- CSA Women's T20 Challenge: